


Snow is a veil of hope

by defiersofthestars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Everyone remembers about safety and for now Rey has a contraceptive implant, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Post-Canon Fix-It, Prompt Fic, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey Needs A Hug, Reylofic, Soft Ben Solo, post-tros where ben is alive, soft reylo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:01:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24625156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defiersofthestars/pseuds/defiersofthestars
Summary: Reylo AU prompt from Twitter: "Ben defects to the resistance and they transfer their base to a snow planet as a result. When he continually disappears for hours at a time, everyone becomes suspicious until Rey catches him in the act of building his next snowman."My work is a little bit different, but the key "snowman" theme remains.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56
Collections: Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	Snow is a veil of hope

**Author's Note:**

> Link to the Reylo Prompts tweet that started it all: https://tinyurl.com/ychvhb53

It's snowing all night long and, after waking up early in the morning, Rey sees a pure white field surrounding the ships of the Resistance. The waves of snowdrifts sparkle like crystals in the rays of the rising sun that begin to penetrate through the light haze. The blue color of the sky imperceptibly merges with pale purple, and pink clouds scatter on it with bizarre patterns.

Clutching the folds of a warm cloak at her throat, Rey can't take her eyes off such beauty. Different planets come across their path, but this is the moment when she really feels that the world around, mired in the new war, still continues to live. This is what they all have been fighting for.

She feels the need to share her thoughts, but the person she is looking for isn’t here. She doesn’t feel him even by starfighters with which he sometimes helps Rose, but the peaceful silence in their connection tells her everything’s fine. Where’s Ben?

Yesterday they spent long hours with Finn, Poe, and some more admirals discussing the plans of help to the planets of the Core Worlds, including Corellia where they are now. While the others were examining the fighters along with local craftsmen, Ben temporarily returned to the role of the former Supreme Leader. He shared databases and planned credit expenses from the First Order’s bank accounts to support industries after the destruction of labor camps and ensure the supply of bacta and everything necessary.

He is always ready to continue such meetings ad infinitum and address all worlds. And it is always Poe’s firm statement like _There’re no more urgent issues for today_ that allows Rey to take Ben, his voice hoarse, his legs jelly, to sleep, at last.

_(“I have to fix it. I don’t want people to see me only like Kylo Ren.”_

_“We all know how much you’re doing. But you need some rest.”_

_“Do I have a right to need it? Too many planets were affected because of me.”_

_“Because of the First Order. You’re not the Order.”_

_“I’m what’s left of it. And I'm going to help as long as I can”)._

Ben has spent several weeks in the Resistance, and they slowly but surely get used to each other. Sometimes he is still called “ _a Nerf Leader”_ or gets praised for all “ _stupid decisions”_ resulted in the crushing defeat of the First Order behind his back, but no one expresses outright hostility. Ben personally apologizes to Poe, Finn and Rose, and they look out for him as much as they can and even tell him stories about Leia. Rey knows that her friends would hardly be able to understand _what_ happened to Kylo Ren and Ben Solo, but she is grateful for their help.

She puts on a hood and keeps going following the faint trail of the Force. The Resistance landed in the valley near Coronet City, above which straight and meandering skyscrapers ascends to the colorful sky like bizarre plants. Turning away from the city, she walks deep into the valley and towards a sparse coniferous forest. Snow covers green branches like icing covers cakes and creaks underfoot. Snowflakes keep clinging to the edges of Rey's cloak during her way through the snowdrifts (it’s easy after Jakku dunes), and she finds herself thinking she likes snow no less than rain. It can be prickly, but its coolness is reassuring. In addition, Ben told her that there are no identical snowflakes in the galaxy, and she gets some kind of proof by examining those on her gloves. They’re like tiny stars. It’s magical.

Ahead, behind the trees, appears the edge illuminated by the dawn’s first light, a familiar dark silhouette walking back and forth. Rey hurriedly covers the distance and freezes, her mouth open.

Bending down and stepping heavily on the snow-covered ground, Ben slowly pushes a huge snowball in front of him. Another one, even bigger, is left nearby.

“Ben!” Rey calls quietly, not daring to take another step.

He quickly straightens his spine and takes off the hood. His hair is ruffled, his cheeks are flushed and this makes him look much younger. They agreed not to read each other’s thoughts without special need, and Rey doesn’t know whether to worry or laugh now. But his gaze makes her heart warm as always.

“Hi,” he says, feeling the same way. “Yesterday we finished late. I thought everyone’d sleep long and went for a breather.”

“Everybody’s sleeping. I was looking for you.”

Rey slowly comes closer, not taking her eyes off the snowballs. “What are you doing here?”

He follows her gaze and turns away in embarrassment, as if expecting to hear laughter.

“I woke up early, and I haven’t seen real snow for several years, and yesterday was a difficult day. So... I’m building a snowman.”

“Whom?” Rey asks confusedly.

She, personally, learned what is snow just a few weeks ago and doesn’t understand what and _why_ could be made of it. And then she frowns, noticing Ben's shock.

“It's a figure of a man made of snow,” he says, waving his hands in the air. “That part is its lower body, here is a torso,” a point at the smaller snowball, “and then I’ll make a head.”

“But there are just... snowballs. Men don’t look like that. And why do you need it?” Rey asks, starting to get worried for real. She feels the Force is finally in peace, and the darkness had no power over Ben anymore, but what if he needs more protection? Did someone threaten him? Why didn’t he say anything? “Do you want to revive him?”

“What? Good heavens...” he quickly steps forward and takes her hands in his. “Rey, darling, I'm fine. It’s just a game, you know? Parents and children or friends go outside and build snowmen when it's snowing. They even make raincoats, wings, whatever you want. They can even compete who did better.”

“A game,” Rey repeats slowly. For her, it was her childhood talks with a doll made of scraps of cloth, and only if she had enough strength after work.

“Yes,” Ben confirms and grins like a boy. “However, my mother told me the Alderaan people built snowmen to give praise to the spirits of nature and ask them for mercy in ancient times. People on Chandrila did the same.”

“Teedos didn’t build anything in honor of R’iia on Jakku,” Rey says. “It's hard to do something with dry sand. And why do you need a snowman? Is it a game or a form of gratitude for something?”

She asks about it quite seriously. Ben touches her hood so as not to touch her face with wet gloves.

“I will always thank only you. I hope I don't need a snowman to do this.”

Rey's face softens.

“It’s true.”

He kisses her forehead, and Rey closes her eyes, melting in his warmth and familiar smell. As long as he is with her and thinks and says things from which the threads of their connection literally shine, she feels herself at home.

“So, why are you doing this?” she asks, nodding at the parts of the future snowman.

Ben sighs. Snowflakes with sharp jagged edges tangle in his dark curls, and Rey feels a bitterly tender taste in his thoughts. _Family._

“When my parents sent me to train as a Jedi, it was snowing too,” he begins. “I was ten, and we went for a walk in the forest on Chandrila together. Luke was there too. I don’t know if they specifically called him to prepare me or not. My dad and I built a snowman.”

He absentmindedly fingers the surface of the snowball, as if the snowflakes could hide pictures of that distant day from him. The sun rises a little higher, and his eyes in which Rey could see the memories turn warm chocolate.

_“C’mon, little starfighter,” Han's voice comes from somewhere behind. “Push it up.”_

_The snowball in front of Ben almost reaches his waist, but the boy stubbornly rolls it forward, feeling his father's hands on his back and managing to giggle at the same time._

_“Good, keep closer to mom, so that we can catch the resemblance.”_

_Nearby are Luke and Leia talking. Leia's eyes stop on her son for a moment, narrow with tenderness, and then immediately switch to her brother._

_“Put the torso on its low body, and only the head will remain.”_

_“The snowman will be too tall for mom, dad.”_

_“Perhaps you’re right. Whom will we build, then? Maybe Uncle Chewie?”_

_“Yeah!”_

_Ben rushes to make a smaller snowball, and Han rolls the torso by himself to the low body._

_“Oh, it’s heavy... Seems like we tried too hard, son.”_

_“I’ll help you!”_

_“Sure, my tough guy,” Han laughs._

_Ben throws a crooked snowball to the ground and goes to his father. Of course, he will not be able to raise such a big snowball himself. But if he uses the Force that makes toys fly into the air at home... he couldn’t always control it, but now he can. Here’s his chance. He will show his parents all their worries about him were unfounded._

_Luke leans forward, and Rey is surprised at how well Ben remembers the expression on his face – a mixture of curiosity and anxiety, as if the boy was standing next to the bomb._

_And then they get goose bumps. Ben's parents’ smiles fade and stretch out, as if someone crookedly paints them over a fright. An insinuating and familiar voice appears. It can be felt rather than heard._

_“They’re scared of you. They’re scared of your power, and they are right. You can't control it.”_

_A snowball that was rising up in the air suddenly cracks in the middle and burst into flakes scattered in all directions with a quiet "pop". Anger and confusion mix in Ben's soul, but he hopes to turn everything into a joke._

_“Oops… tried too hard again.”_

_“Okay, honey, let's not hurry anymore,” Leia laughs, wiping her face with her sleeve, but now a real fear appears in her eyes. “Build it again, huh?”_

Ben's next memories are blurry: behind his back in the clearing stands a snowman with a band of cones over his shoulder resembling a bandolie but no longer inspiring joy; his parents scream at each other in the next room, then a door slams and Leia starts crying; and then, there is the last embrace of his mom apologizing for his dad’s absence, while a gloved prosthetic hand grabs his palm.

“In winter, when dad arrived, we used to build snowmen together,” Ben says. “That was a tradition.”

_“And kriffing Palpatine ruined it too,”_ Rey could say, but that’s already clear. Ben averts his eyes and pushes the snowball, as if to put the memory from him. Rey is torn between pity and anger, unable to change the past; but she can only help in the present. Stepping aside, she lets him put the snowball on the bigger one without accident and watches him filling gaps on the sides with snow.

Ben, finally free from the influence of the Emperor, was left alone with his own thoughts and keeps rebuilding his personality, using even such small things as snowmen. With new memories, he returns the light to the old ones – especially those that should never have been bad.

This also applies to the Falcon, which they have flown for some time with Chewie; and the Wookiee himself, who, having coped with perplexity and anger, recognizes the return of his nephew and often talks with him about the past and his parents; and Lando Calrissian who met him on the first day with a smile; and even R2-D2 who is generous enough to share the holograms Leia had sent to her brother and son before the destruction of the Jedi temple, as well as Ben's answers, often with calligraphy drawings. Sincerity is revealed beneath cynical, while love and worry are found in place of fear.

Ben appreciates all this but still prefers spending time in silence, recreating his own view of the world. Sometimes Rey leaves him alone but uses their Force connection to remind him of her love. Sometimes she is there for him and seems quite small against the background of his broad shoulders and height (“What did guys from the First Order’s bridge live on?” – Poe asks, not very pleased with the same feeling). They simply freeze, holding each other and ignoring the meaningful looks of the others.

“I'm acting like a child,” Ben says, ruffling his hair and looking at the headless snow body.

“No!” Rey objects. “I think it's fun. I want my own snowman too, but let's finish this first – together?”

She looks pleadingly in his eyes. Ben can't help but laugh.

“Okay, I trust you to make a head.”

“And you go find arms!” she commands, enthusiastically getting down to business.

A few minutes later, the snowman's body is crowned with a perfect snowball in which they stick cones as eyes and a nose. Bathing in sun rays, the white body shimmers like a whole galaxy of stars, and Rey sincerely admires their creation.

“This guy better not get into a fight,” Ben snorts, looking at the thin sticks fixed on the sides of the body. At the back, he makes something like a cape, adding creases with his fingers.

“He can crush everyone with his huge stomach,” Rey says with a shrug. “But you're right. He needs help.”

Remembering how to dig through sand and piles of rubbish, she quickly makes snowballs for another snowman, a little bit thinner. Ben lifts Rey in his arms so that she can set the head over the wide neck. They build his arms out of snow and put his hands on his hips, so it’s clear the snowmen mean business at first glance.

“A true Dyad of snow. Thank you,” Rey says, kissing Ben’s cheek. “However, they’re missing someone.”

He shakes his head, admiring her cheerful energy and they way she takes their little fun so seriously – this is what makes Rey _herself_. But he gets confused while watching her build something very small compared to snowmen. She makes an oblong little body, places it between two figures and puts a round head on the top, adding two cones as eyes and a thin piece of snow instead of a tail.

“Now we don’t have worry about this planet anymore,” she says, raising her finger up.

Ben looks at her new creation with a laugh, although at some point, he thought Rey was about to build something else instead of the little porg. This thought embarrasses him and arouses some strange, new feeling inside his stomach at the same time. Could he really live a normal life after everything what happened? Could he have what any other man has?

“Ben?” Rey calls him.

Refusing to get ahead of himself at that moment, he comes back to reality, under the sky full of bright colors, to the tender and strong woman who loves him so much and makes him believe he may be worthy.

“You know, there’s one more snow game,” he says with a tiny smile. Ray raises her eyebrows in question and watches him bend down and make a little snowball.

“Is this also some kind of ancient tradition?”

“No. I’d rather say, it’s an alternative to trainings with droids.”

Before Rey could move, he throws it to her knee. As if in a slow holomovie, surprise appears on her face, replacing by childish resentment and finally a realization. Her eyes narrow, her lips part in an insidious smile, her hands clenching into fists.

“Careful, Solo...”

And the girl who has never fought _for fun_ in her life before grabs snow from the ground and throws back at him. Ben easily dodges and jumps aside.

“Missed it, Sunshine!”

Making a snowball in a moment, he throws it again – but this time Rey is ready.

For several minutes they circle around the clearing, jumping, crouching, rushing to the side, teasing each other and managing to aim at the same time. Rey's cloak is soaked. Ben feels snow in his boots but refuses to stop until he’s able to move fast. In response to his breathy laugh, a battle screech comes from Rey.

Finally, she catches him, popping out from behind the snowmen, throwing snow in his face and knocking him to the ground, falling to his chest with her full weight.

“Yield, honey?”

“Yes, oh my noble Master of the Snow Order!” Ben howls in mock horror, trying to catch his breath after their _Duel of the Fates_ (as Rey called it). He hasn’t had so much fun for a really long time.

His hands clasp Rey’s waist through the wide sleeves of the cloak. His gaze runs across her flushed face – from her shining eyes to parted lips from which heavy breathing escapes. Rey's fingers rest on his shoulders, she leans over to him, but then squeals and falls to the ground, wriggling with laughter.

“It's not fair!”

“There are no rules in a snowball fight”, Ben responds and removes his hands. She manages to catch one and grabs a wide palm with her thin fingers.

Rey lies facing the sun that rose even higher above the trees, and Ben can see every freckle on her face, as well as all the bronze sparks in her green eyes. He used to see hatred, anger, and despair in them, but now they shine with tenderness and understanding. It makes him feel peaceful but nervous at the same time: he loves her with all his heart but can't suppress the fear of ruining everything again.

“Everything will be fine, Ben,” Rey says squeezing his fingers, her voice soft and quiet. He pulls her closer and feels snow tickle against his cheek but doesn’t care. They kiss, and it isn’t like that first time on Exegol, so eager, so impatient. This kiss is slow and tender, like those they exchanged later, far from danger, on the Falcon or in the nooks of the Resistance base, getting used to the intimacy when their breaths mix and heat flows from lips to heads, spreading over their bodies. And Rey especially likes this feeling when she climbs Ben like he’s a tree, wrapping her arms and legs around him so that she doesn’t have to stand on tiptoe and he doesn’t have to bend down but instead holds her to his chest tightly while kissing.

_That day_ , she found out what it feels like to be a part of a Dyad in the Force. And now she keeps learning a new sense of lightness and peace inside – as if all these years she had been carrying a heavy load on her shoulders without knowing it until someone finally shared it. But not just someone. _Ben._ With a soul reaching for the light, a loving heart that she is going to protect forever. And a blaster as his only weapon against the Emperor of the Sith.

She leans on his chest, tangling her fingers into his hair and sending a wave of goosebumps down his spine. The power of the Dark Side, the rule of the galaxy – all this seems so small, meaningless compared to the chance to be with her, to love and _feel_ love in return. He used to be seen as a legacy of the families known for a strong connection with the Force and heroism during the war; a puppet of darkness. He is a person now. _Ben Solo._ He will try to fix what happened to the galaxy, but also (and this is the main thing) will never let Rey feel alone again.

The cold touch of snowflakes on his forehead brings him back to reality.

“I think we should go.” His voice sounds hoarse. Rey raises her eyes, looking somewhere behind the trees and reluctantly stands up, brushing off snow.

“You’re cold,” Ben says anxiously, rising on his feet next to her.

“After living in the desert? Impossible,” replies she but he undoes his cloak and pulls her to his chest.

It is not easy to go like this, but at least they’re as close as possible. Soon the Falcon and the flagship of the Resistance appear ahead.

“I like making snowmen,” Rey says cheerfully. “And a snowball fight. I hope this was not the last one.”

“Depends on where we’ll go next.”

He doesn't add it's also desirable to be a place where no one would like to kill him on the spot.

“Poe said we were going to Chandrila soon. It’s winter in Hanna City.”

Ben tenses up. He deals with his memories one by one and is not sure if he’s ready to dive into them headlong. Rey pokes him in the chest and forces him to look in her eyes.

One day, he said that she was not alone. But her response was the same.

“Hey. You didn’t hit the ground too hard, did you? How could you forget I'm always with you?”

“I know it,” Ben says before putting her hood back on her head and smiling. “And I will never forget.”

***

The flagship of the Resistance has already begun to come to life when Ben and Rey return to the Falcon to change clothes. The process lasts longer than usual, because neither he nor she wants to miss the opportunity to devote time to something they didn’t have it for last night. They are not as nervous as they used to be, but the awe with which Ben touches Rey's body and the blinding sense of bliss that overwhelms them both and grows stronger with every kiss and touch remain the same.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks later, laying his head on her chest and listening to her beating heart. Putting one hand on his broad shoulders, reddened by her grip, Rey lazily raises his hand and kisses his knuckles.

“Snowmen.”

Ben quickly turns his head and looks in her mocking eyes.

“Should I worry about it?”

“You stoopa!” she chuckles, pinching his back. “They made me wonder what we are going to do later - when the war will finally become history and the former Resistance pilots will spread out across the galaxy."

He runs his fingers near her breast, over the thin sweaty skin through which her ribs can be seen, and Rey shivers again with giggling.

“Rey, I don't mind building snowmen with you for the rest of my life, but I'm afraid it will get boring one day.”

She touches his cheek and lips swollen just like her own. They can always know each other's feelings, but no word feels powerful enough to describe a moment like this. If the Dyad’s power is like _life_ itself, then their love is a _miracle_ – bright and deep, mysterious and clear, quiet and deafening.

Ben tilts his head, waiting for her to speak.

“Maybe you're right,” Rey finally says, “but I think there are other ways. Luke said it was time for the Jedi to end, but I don’t think this should be so _radical_. Some of their rules may be useful.”

Ben slowly rises on his elbows and leans back on the pillow beside her. That's what she is talking about.

“Do you really think that they would let... that anyone would like to deal with me? They can accept bacta and credits, but learning the ways of the Force...”

“Exactly, Ben. Now you’re doing a lot of good things for the galaxy! Everyone knows it.”

“It's my duty.”

“It's your _heart_ ,” Rey says, placing her hand on his chest. “You could easily steal a small ship and get lost in the Unknown Regions to rest on your laurels after defeating Palpatine. But you’re staying here, because you’re a good person.”

Ben never ceases to wonder at the power of her faith – in him, other people, the world around her. But he remembers his own learning experience with Luke, and although the other Padawans came to him of their own free will, it is difficult to call their life happy.

“That’s how I see it. The Three Pillars, the Force, Knowledge, and Self-Discipline in order to learn meditation, remain. But - there will be no more isolation from the family or limits of attachments,” Rey continues, accompanying each point with a clap of her fingers. “We can show how dark and light unite in the Force. As they do in every living soul, in fact.”

“Sounds good,” Ben admits. “But what if no one wants to train as a Jedi?”

She purses her lips and shrugs.

“So, you and I will be the last ones. We will just live and fly the Falcon, and then settle in some quiet and beautiful place. I like this way too.”

“Me too. One day dad took mom and me to the Gold Beaches,” Ben replies. “It's not far from here, and the coast is very beautiful. There…”

“No more sand!” Rey grimaces right away. “Never in my life would I enjoy it.”

“As you wish.”

Ben tucks a stray lock behind her ear, and she leans on his palm.

“I know that you’re still not sure. I feel it too sometimes,” Rey lowers her eyes, imagining for a moment how terrible and dreadful it would be to lose each other on the day of the battle of Exegol. “But you and I are in this together. No matter what happens in the future, new memories will appear, but now it's up to _us_ to decide whether they’re happy or not. I believe there’ll be more of the first ones.”

She smiles shyly under his attentive gaze. It’s impossible not to believe the best while being next to each other, feeling their connection in the Force that will never break or allow one of them to get lost in the dark.

“Have I already said I love you?”

“Not today,” she says, looking at his lips. Their touch is soft even in those moments when they both are lost in passion.

Repeating these three words in a whisper, like a prayer, Ben kisses her lips, neck, and collarbone, a scar on her shoulder no longer covered by a bandage, and thinks about this new feeling of belonging. Of coming _home_. They have lost inexcusably much time...

“You know, I am going to make some inquiries later,” he admits, pressing Rey to his chest and stroking her sweaty hair. “The Graveyard is what’s left of the Organas’ property. But the family of my real grandmother, Padmé Amidala, had an estate in the Lake Country on Naboo. Mom inherited it after the death of her cousins, but I don’t know whether she decided to keep it or sell. If she kept...”

Rey leans back to see his face, her smile blinding.

“Ben, it’s a wonderful place! I saw its pictures in the HoloNet. I don’t think your mother could sell it. If it’s yours now, then we will be able to establish an academy there. If we have no students to teach, it will still be our home. You will practice calligraphy or study history, as you enjoyed before, and I... I’ll grow flowers or make a fortune in the repair shop of local speeders! Anyway, even if now there is a museum or something like that in the estate... ” she laughs, biting her lip, “the Lake Country is just perfect _for children_.”

She talks and dreams out loud, cuddling with him, and every second a warm feeling is growing in Ben's heart like a flaring star. It was not for nothing that the Force allowed him to survive on Exegol. Rey deserves the life she’s describing now, the opportunity to shine and give a smile to everyone around her, justifying the affectionate nickname he gave her – Sunshine. And for him, there would be no greater happiness than sharing such a life with her.

Once _that_ voice said, _“Even stars burn out”_ , as death overtakes all. And it was wrong, as always. Some of them are much stronger.


End file.
